Since December 2009, it has allowed people to "surf" the seafloor while ocean scientists run deep-water experiments from labs and universities around the world.

Along with its sister project, VENUS, NEPTUNE offers a unique approach to ocean science.

Traditionally, ocean scientists have relied on infrequent ship cruises or space-based satellites to carry out their research, while the NEPTUNE project uses a remotely operated crawler.

Its small size and close proximity to the coast gives NEPTUNE Canada a unique opportunity to observe tectonic processes.

Taking advantage of this platform, scientists collaborating with NEPTUNE are expected to conduct thousands of unique experiments over the life of the project.

A two-by-two Gbit/s data channel is implemented on the spur cable, and each branching unit is connected to a regional node station.